


Do You Know Keith Kogane?

by NoGalraNoGlory



Category: Original Work, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Betrayal, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Depression, Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining Lance (Voltron), Plot Twists, Yaoi, depressed emo keef, theatre geek keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-09 22:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13490775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoGalraNoGlory/pseuds/NoGalraNoGlory
Summary: Keith Kogane. Overall, a quiet and overly anxious kid. No one at East High knew much about him other than that he was a major introvert and not to approach him.Then there's Lance McClain. Not only is he sociable, he's generally nice and everyone knows him. Lance knows pretty much everyone there. He knew his close group of friends most of all. Though, little did Lance know, that he didn't know everyone at East High School.As Lance and his group of friends are passing by a relatively local church on there way to a certain Cuban's house, they suddenly hear the laughter of a large group of young kids and the blasting of a foreign music genre. Intrigued, the group peers over at the church and finds non other then Keith Kogane leading a group of kids through some choreography. Lance, not knowing the student whatsoever, is surprised that he sees the kid singing and dancing to the musical West Side Story.





	1. Any Other Day

**Author's Note:**

> This story follows Keith and Lance as they find themselves running into each other often. While Keith isn't interested in making nice with the popular teen, Lance is most definitely chasing after him for a friendship....or maybe something more? Nah, definitely not.
> 
> \------------  
> This fic was originally posted on Wattpad by me with my @Sukoshi_theshoot account but I decided to bring it here along with one other klance work. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story!

Between the pressures of school and having to learn all of his lines, Keith never even bothered to try and make friends at school. He was an anxious kid and just the thought of awkward introductions made him want to crawl into the depths of hell and shake hands with devil. As the brunet walked through the halls of East High, his eyes glued to his script, he heard the chattering of other students and swerved out of the groups way, only hearing a few clips of their conversation.

"—I'm telling you that is not how anatomy works—" "—does Pidge know?!"

Keith rolled his eyes at how loud they were and silently paid his respects to the teachers that had to shut their doors because of the loud group. He closed his binder and hugged it close to his chest as he spotted his drama class. He stepped in and felt at ease to see the familiar cupboards filled with costumes and the smell of chai tea. He pulled up a stool and sat in front of the teacher's desk. "Good morning, Mr. Wood."

Mr. Christian Wood. Probably the coolest—and hottest— teacher at East High. His hair was a dashing snow white blond and his eyes were a shocking, vibrant blue. He had wide shoulders and was about the average height of every man you could see out there. But he made it look good. His voice was low but was smooth as warm butter. He was always cleanly shaved and he wore a pine cologne that made anyone swoon.

Keith had to wipe the slight drool dripping from his mouth as he gawked, a daily ritual of his, and smiled at the relaxed teacher. "Good morning, Keith. Early, as usual" Mr. Wood chuckled and took a small sip of his chai tea. He was separating some papers and marking some other papers with a green sharpie. The sharpie smell wafted in Keith's direction. Keith shrugged, feigning a chill attitude. "I don't have any homework and I don't really have anything better to do" Keith looked down at his binder which held his West Side Story script in it and he hugged it before looking back over at the young teacher.

Mr. Wood, seemingly more interested in the binder than his paperwork, raised an eyebrow. "Is that your theatre group show? Which one is it?" Keith smiled softly and handed his binder to Mr. Wood. The blonde teacher opened the binder and his scanned over the script before a grin spread across his lips. "West Side Story! Ahh, that really brings back memories. I got to play Tony when I was in it in high school. But I had a chorus part and I got to be a shark. That was the thrill of my life. I think I still have my shark costume too"

Keith's eyes shone with wonder and he leaned forward in his seat. "Really? I really wished I had gotten a shark....but I got cast as Ice. I really like America and I wish I got to sing it" Mr. Wood nodded as he flipped through the script. "But I get to sing Cool and I get to lead the dance break." Keith was unconsciously swinging his legs excitedly as he spoke and he thought back to the movie, remembering the entire song.

Keith began to hum Cool and he closed his eyes contently. Suddenly, Mr. Wood began to sing the lyrics with a cheeky grin. "Boy, boy, crazy boy! Stay loose, boy!" Keith grinned and joined in with the teacher. "Breeze it, buzz it, easy does it. Turn off the juice, boy! Go man, go, but not like a yo-yo schoolboy...just play it cool, boy....real coooool!" Keith was grinning widely and he started laughing along with Mr. Wood as a few students slowly filing in. Keith's smile faltered and he quickly grabbed his script before pretending to become invested in it. Some students grumbled good mornings to Mr. Wood and went to other side of the room, where they would all play theatre games. Keith sighed as the bell rang and he set aside his script and joined the rest of the class.

Mr. Wood brought up a chair and looked at the class with a smile. "Morning, you guys!" He sipped his chai tea as everyone grumbled a good morning. Mr. Wood chuckled and looked around. "Yeah, yeah. You're all tired now but today's Tuesday and what game are we playing?" Some students perked up and grinned. "Atom!" The class collectively scrambled to stand up and got ready to play their favourite game. Mr. Wood sipped some more tea before looking deep in thought. "Okay....mingle!" The students started walking at random directions as they listened closely to the teacher. "Atom.....four!" He shouted and some students shrieked as they all scrambled to make groups of four.

Soon, the class had made groups of four with their friends and two students, one being Keith, were left without a group. Keith sighed and slowly walked to sit out, sitting beside Mr. Wood and watching the other students having fun.

 

***

After an hour, the bell rang that signalled that class was over and students quickly filed out to get to their next class. Keith took his time and waved a shy goodbye to Mr. Wood as he picked up his script. Mr. Wood waved to Keith before becoming invested in his paperwork once more. Grinning from ear to ear, Keith made his way to English class, not forgetting to grab his binders from his locker. He was walking to one of the school's stairwells and heard some other students loudly stomping down from the second level. The orphan lowered his head as he quickly walked up the stairs past the other students.

It's not that Keith was scared of other people—okay, that was a lie. He was. But he also just disliked eye contact and often avoided making it with anyone as much as he could. It was just so awkward whenever his eyes locked with someone else's. Especially if they were across an entire room from each other. What was supposed to happen? Keith bet most extroverted kids would make a funny face or would smile at their friends. But Keith? Nope. No way would he attempt something that could potentially go wrong. No thanks.

Keith saw some other students waiting outside of the English class, waiting for the teacher to arrive and he quietly sat down on the floor and pressed his back up against a locker. He opened up his script and continued to read over his lines. He heard the pulsing clicks of his english teacher's heels approaching the group of teens and she laughed apologetically. "Sorry, sorry! I was just finishing up my breakfast! Come in, come in!" She quickly unlocked the classroom door and flipped the light switches. Her heels clicked as she jogged to her desk and was rushing to take out her paperwork. All the students wandered in and settled down in their assigned seating and took out their Twelfth Night books, waiting for the teacher to be ready. Keith was the last one to get to his seat and sadly was the one to be picked on. "Ah, Keith! Could you take the attendance down to the office once I fill it?" Unable to say no, he set down his stuff in his desk and shrugged. Which, in the teacher's eyes, was a yes. "Great! Thank you! So...Pidge? Yes, you're here. Michelle? Ah, there you are. Hebba? Mhm, I see you. Megan? Right in front of my face..." Keith slowly sat on his desk and his eyes wandered out to the windows across the room. His purple eyes set on a little bird that was having difficulty flying. It would hop off the branch, flapping its wings before falling. Keith jumped, a reflexive action as he saw it fall but he realized he couldn't do anything. The small bird came back into sight as it flew back up with the assistance with what seemed to be its mother. Keith relaxed and shoved his hand into his sweater pockets.

"Keith Kogane!" Keith let out a squeak as his head jerked to the front of the class and he soon noticed the whole class staring at him. He faltered, eyes widening as he fell under the gaze's of twenty or so students. He looked to the teacher and saw that she was holding out the attendance paper. Keith quickly shuffled to the front, muscles tensing tightly as he heard giggles and chuckles from the student's and he practically ripped the paper out of the teacher's hands before rushing out of the classroom.

With scarlet cheeks and moist eyes, Keith made his way to the stairwell where he was on his way to the office. A student was stomping up the stairs past him and Keith faintly caught the words he was uttering under his breath. "—hit shit shit shit shit—" Keith calmed down, feeling grateful he wasn't the only mess in the school. He could faintly hear the taps of his sneakers against the concrete as he pushed past a few doors and made his way into the office. He handed the secretary the paper and was halfway out the door before the lady at the desk called after him. "Could you do me a favour, sweetie, and tell your teacher to switch to digital attendance? Thank you" Keith nodded sheepishly and shuffled down the hallway and back to class.

***

 

The final bell of the day rang and Keith was more than happy to run out of school and head straight to rehearsal. This was his normal. He would go through his day then attend rehearsal Tuesday and Wednesday right after school. You see, his soon to be adoptive mother is the director of a local theatre group called Children's Theatre Company. They rehearsed two days of the week and one day on the weekend. After a few months of rehearsing and blocking out the scenes, they would have a full weekend of shows and a day after would have a party to celebrate their successful show. It was already a month into rehearsals and they were starting to choreograph some of the songs.

Keith started participating in the shows at age eight, a year or so after he was taken in by his current foster parent, and has been in musical theatre ever since. Keith, a natural actor and a total theatre geek, was starting to get bigger roles in the shows and he couldn't contain his excitement as the rehearsals went by. He walked a few blocks from the school and approached the local church St. Michael's Anglican Church. That was where they rehearsed and preformed their show. He took out his set of keys, unlocking the doors and propping open the door. The cool air of the room hit him as he walked in and saw his foster parent on the stage.

"Hey, Nancy" Keith called out to the middle aged woman whom was pulling out props and set pieces before she turned around and smiled brightly. "Hey Keith! How was school?" Keith threw his backpack off to the side and jumped onto the stage out of habit. He started setting up some of the set pieces and began setting up a scene from West Side Story.

"It was alright....nothing really out of the ordinary" Keith murmured nonchalantly and pulled out a suitcase that had speakers and a cable bar in it. He hopped off of the stage and pulled out a fold out table, where he set the suitcase down and took out the bag of tech. It took a bit, but he set up the speakers and pulled out Nancy's computer and turned it on. Whilst waiting, he pulled up a chair and started singing loudly. "Trapped where there ain't no future, even at seventeen. Breaking your back for someone else's sake.....if the life don't seem to suit ya, how 'bout a change of scene? Far from the lousy headlines and the deadlines in betweeeeen!" He screeched, the note just about hitting his voice break.

Nancy laughed and she ceased setting up the scene on the stage to start dancing from the song Keith was previously singing. Keith laughed and covered his mouth, trying to contain his laughter. Hands were suddenly placed on Keith's shoulders and he jumped, letting out a shriek before whipping around, coming face to face with a bombshell blonde haired girl. "Jerra!" Keith shrieked angrily and began playfully hitting her.

The blond girl laughed and hugged Keith as she wrestled his head. He huffed angrily before hugging her back begrudgingly. The two teens began chatting as more teens and younger kids filed into the room and idly chatted with each other. Nancy hopped down from the stage and clapped her hands together. "Okay, everyone! Come sit down!"

And thus began the rest of Keith's happy life.


	2. Hearing Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the bus ride continued, he couldn't help but overhear the student's conversations with his friends and found it hard to contain some of his laughter at the contents. "—and Lucas jumped out, wearing a darth vadar costume and was screaming at me to drink his 'witch's brew' and started chasing me with his lightsaber—" "—dude, I was at the skatepark the other day and I tried to skate for the ladies and I fell on my ass but they actually seemed to like it! So then I did it again—"
> 
> (See Notes at the end of the chapter for the Spanish translations)

Knocking back a cool glass of orange juice was a daily ritual of Lance McClain's. Along with scarfing down his toast smothered with butter and making sure his young siblings didn't kill each other, or worse, themselves.

He set down his glass of orange juice and dashed over to the living room, where his baby sister, Anita, was tugging at the cord of a lamp. Full of pride, Lance swoops in and scoops up his baby sister, holding her close and laughing along with her giggles and burbles of happiness. Lance sets her down on her play mat and heads back to the dining room, where he scooped up his dishes and brought them to the kitchen. His movements were fluid and he added a few silly steps to his wall as he jammed out to The Wiggles music playing in the living room.

He hummed to the songs that were played at least a thousand times in his childhood and he swishes his hips back and fourth. He set his plates into the sink and turned on the water, letting it warm up. He sighed as it was way too quiet for seven in the morning at his house. "Marcus!! Maria!! James!!" He shouted as he ran to the bottom of the staircase. He heard a series of unhappy groans as slammed his fist into the wall. "Mientras tú vivas en esta casa, you will listen to me when mama isn't home!!" He ordered and slammed his fist one more time before stomping back to the kitchen and packing everyone's lunches.

Currently, Lance's mother and father were in Cuba, enjoying time with the family. They were supposed to be coming back next week but the family festivities wouldn't let up there. His abuela and cousins were coming to visit and Lance didn't know how much family he could take. His mother had told him that he'd need to take the living room floor for the time being and Lance dreaded that awaited time. `Might as well enjoy peace and unity while I still can` He thought as he set aside his sibling's lunch boxes. The doorbell rang and loud, erratic thumps come from the stairwell as a black and white husky started to bark endlessly.

"Felicia, Cállate! Ohmygod—I'm coming!" Lance grew flustered as he rushed to the door, pushing the husky out of the way. He opened the door just a fraction and peered out. He brightened as he saw his saviour. "Nina! Just in time. I need to get to school. Hold on— Felicia, I swear to JESUS I will throw you over my balcony— move! Out of the way!" Lance opened the door a little wider, just enough for the housekeeper to walk in. He shut the door once she was in and rushed ahead of his thoughts in order to get ready for the day.

***

Keith was not starting off with a good day. He woke up by the sound of the neighbour's dog yapping away at four in the morning and didn't shut up until at least four thirty. Keith made himself a cup of black coffee and lazily got all of his school supplies into his bag. He tugged off his Gaylien pyjama shirt and grabbed a "loading sarcasm" shirt and slowly but surely dressed himself in it. He slipped on a pair of tight black jeans and sloppily grabbed his old and battered up grey sweater. It looked just as old as it actually was but Keith gave zero fucks about what he was wearing. Without thinking too much, he slipped on a few rainbow loom bracelets that he had made in his somewhat spare time (although his "free time" was actually just him procrastinating doing his homework) and pulled up his hood as he headed towards the door.

Both Nancy and him had grown into the habit of skipping breakfast. They were both way too tired and had no appetite in the mornings to even attempt to shovel anything down their throats. Keith stomped outside of the house and hugged himself with his sweater. He walked a block or so away from his house and stood under the tall maple tree, where he awaited the school bus to arrive.

Yawning, he shivered at the cold chill suddenly running up his spine and he froze, ceasing his stretching to curl his arms out of his sweater sleeves and tuck them close to his warm body. He heard the growling of the yellow school bus down the road and sighed sourly. He didn't want to give up warmth over comfort but knew he had to in order to walk into the bus. He brought his arms out from the torso of his sweater and shivered at the cold, empty sweater sleeves. He walked onto the pavement and approached the monster that was the roaring school bus and stepped up the steep stairs. He walked down the small aisle between the plastic seats and came to realise there was only one seat available. But he also noticed that the student whom was sitting there was sitting on the outer edge, leaving space by the window.

Now, Keith had two options. He could approach the student that he didn't even know and ask if he could make room for him to sit or he could pretend to sit right at the very back but suffer and fall over every time the bus jerked to a halt. Better to choose the latter, he guessed. He was about to walk past the aisle where the free space was when the bus jerked to another stop and he stumbled backwards. He awkwardly cling to the seats on either side of him and took a deep breath. He saw the student from before laying on the floor and raised an eyebrow.

The sun kissed student scrambled up to his feet, Keith feeling slightly unsettled at how much taller the guy actually was, and setting his eyes in Keith. "Sorry, dude. Here" the boy moved to the side, giving Keith access to the window seat and waiting for him to seat. Keith felt his heart swell slightly, thankful for this decent human being as he shuffled his way into the seat. He attempted to mumble a thank you, but it really came out more as a "shank y....." as he tugged his rugged hoodie head up to cover the bags under his eyes.

As the bus ride continued, he couldn't help but overhear the student's conversations with his friends and found it hard to contain some of his laughter at the contents. "—and Lucas jumped out, wearing a Darth vadar costume and was screaming at me to drink his 'witch's brew' and started chasing me with his lightsaber—" "—dude, I was at the skate park the other day and I tried to skate for the ladies and I fell on my ass but they actually seemed to like it! So then I did it again—"

Keith found himself holding back chuckles as he rested his head against the bus window and closing his eyes. The loud chatter of the students around him didn't seem to bother him as he then fell into a light and fleeting slumber.

His body seemed to vibrate as a warm, inviting hand shook Keith awake. Faintly, he heard someone calling to him. "—ude? Buddy? Wake up! Hellooooo?" Keith's eyes shot open and he jolted upright. His head jerked around, looking at us surroundings. He looked up and was met with the same sun kissed boy from earlier.

"You alright, buddy? We're at school" Keith blinked rapidly, feeling dazed and confused as the boy's words sunk in. "....Yeah." Was all he managed to utter out as he stood up. The boy made way for Keith, allowing him to go first and Keith covered his shy smile behind his hood. He walked out of the bus and a hand was placed on hand shoulder before he could scurry off.

"I'm Lance. What would your name be? I like matching faces to names" Keith was taken aback by Lance's words and he looked down, self conscious of his messy and ragged appearance. He knew that Lance awaited a loud and clear answer but he knew he couldn't deliver what was being asked of him.

"......Keith" He murmured, barely over a whisper. Lance raised an eyebrow, not able to hear what the smaller boy had said and he leaned down, cupping his ear. Keith flinched and gritted his teeth, loathing having to repeat himself. "My name is.....Keith" He whispered once more before brushing past Lance and jogging into the school. 

***

Huffing, Lance watched the boy run off and put his hand on his hip. "Damn....couldn't hear his name correctly. Keys? Sheikh? Sheith? Gah...." He rubbed his temples and slowly made his way into the school.

He'll find out someday. And that someday will be soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mientras tú vivas en esta casa = While you live in this house
> 
> Cállate! = Shut Up!


	3. Fate? Who Knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey, Keithy!" Keith froze, ceasing his writing and he looked over at Matt with a deep frown. Matt's finger suddenly approached Keith, attacking his forehead and pushing away the angry crease between his eyebrows. He then grabbed a hold of Keith's cheeks and, in shock, Keith dropped the notebook and pencil. Matt began to assault Keith's cheeks and squished then close together before stretching them into an odd looking smile. "Smiling suits you better"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my friend, I figured how to make bold with rich text instead of HTML. *-* Am confused child.

**November 3rd 9:45am**

****New chat with IluvShay, Momjeans, Caw caw and Bicepdaddy** **

 

 ** **McMeme666:** ** My dudes! I got my old PlayStation 2 running and I found my ddr mats! Let's go HAM at my house after school 2nite

 ****Momjeans:**** Lonce shut tf up

 ****McMeme666:**** maKE mE

 ****Caw caw:**** lonce

 ****IluvShay:**** lonce  

 **Momjeans:** I feel personally attacked

  **Bicepdaddy:** Lance, aren't you in geography right now...?

  

_McMeme666 has sent a photo_

 

 **McMeme666:** Yeah, but we're literally doing shit rn. The teacher has been going off for fifteen mins about doing our work

 **Momjeans:** how ironic

 **Caw caw:** Lance, stop checking out the teacher's ass

 **IluvShay:** um ew

 **McMeme666:** yiKES I've been caughT

 **Bicepdaddy:** Don't be gross, Lance.

 **Momjeans:** Is she hot tho?

 **McMeme666:** o fuck yea

 **Bicepdaddy:** LANCE

 **Caw caw:** How is it that I can hear his dad voice from geography class?

 **IluvShay:** ik isn't it weird?

 **IluvShay:** Oof we're making cookies in class now g o o d b y e

 **McMeme666:** Bye boo!!!!1!!1

 **Caw caw:** Don't eat all the cookies

 **Bicepdaddy:** Have fun, Hunk

 **Momjeans:** I pray for your health

 **Caw caw:** and he's gone

 **McMeme666:**  ANYways....ddr and shit @ my house after school?

 **Caw caw:**  fuck yeah

 **Bicepdaddy:** Yep

 **Momjeans:**  count me in

 **McMeme666:**  How bout Matt, pidgey poo?

 **Caw caw:**  Don't call me that, you twig

 **Caw caw:**  anyways, Matt is going to some drama club event thing

 **McMeme666:** NeRD

 **Momjeans:** welp

 **Momjeans:** I'm going to the gym

 **Bicepdaddy:**  I'm already there

 **Momjeans:** Nice! see you thereeee

 **Caw caw:**...

 **Caw caw:** Oh Matt just sent me a text saying the drama thing was cancelled

 **McMeme666:** Sweeeeet ddr and chill 2nite

 **Caw caw:** Your illiterate ass better be learning shit in geo rn or istg

 **McMeme666:** Who's the one using text talk hmmmm? WHO'S THE ILLITERATE ONE NOW?

 **McMeme666:**  Bye pidgey poo!

 **Caw caw:** Fuck you

 

***

 

Faintly, Keith had to suppress the giddy feeling of remembering what today meant. Even at the second period of the day, he couldn't wait for school to be over. Keith was currently in drama class, right after English had ended previously and he began to tune out the teacher's morning rants. He remembered Nancy telling him last night at rehearsal that today they would start learning a dance called the mambo tonight. Keith absolutely loved dancing. The thrill once he was in motion and as soon as he would finish dancing took his breath away. Literally and figuratively. However, this time around, Nancy had told him that she would teach him some of the dance before hand and he would get a chance to lead and teach the rest of the group.

He began humming the tune of 'Cool' once more as his eyes began to flutter closed and he rested his back against the wall. Suddenly, a hard yet bouncy substance hit his head and he jolted upwards, his violet eyes opening. He looked up and saw that Mr. Wood had hit him with a roll of paper. The adult man was smiling kindly down at Keith as he had a hand rested on his hip. 

Keith, faintly blushing, got up from his isolated space and looked around the room and seeing that everyone seemed to be in partners. Frowning, Keith looked back at Mr. Wood in confusion. "We're doing radio plays now. You should find a partner before everyone is taken." Keith watched Mr. Wood walk back to his desk and sighed tiredly, preparing to sit back down where he was before. However, a sudden force stopped him from sitting back down on the carpeted floor. His wide eyes looked over to the force and became locked with a pair of milk chocolate brown ones.

"Hey, do you have a partner yet?! Ahh, I wasn't paying attention to Mr. Wood when he told us to get into partners. please?" The boy seemed way too desperate for the current situation but Keith decided not to question it. He stood up straight and wrenched his hand free from the stranger's grip. The student's anxieties seemed to calm down as Keith nodded and he smiled. "I'm Matt. Your local math nerd" He crossed his arms and looked down at Keith.

Yes, you heard Keith correctly. Matt was one of those lucky people who got the privilege of growing taller. In comparison, Keith was about two heads smaller than Matt. Matt was tall and amazingly broad-shouldered. His hair was just below his ears but only his bangs occasionally covered his eyes. Glancing closer, Keith noticed how physically gifted Matt was. His face shape was sharp but his gaze was warm and inviting. Keith felt considerably uglier in Matt's presence.

Keith looked down at his hands and Matt looked around the room. "Do you want to go out into the hall? It's more quieter out there" Keith's noncommittal shrug was seen in Matt's eyes as up to him and he smiled warmly, gently grabbing a hold of Keith's hand and he grabbed his binders before walking out of the classroom and sitting by some lockers. He let Keith sit on his own and and began to write down ideas for their project.

"So, what do you want this broadcast thing to be about? We watched that War of The Worlds thing yesterday and we have to make a script based off of some apocalypse" He handed over his notebook and pencil to the black haired male and watched it sit in his lap, lifeless. He laughed softly and picked up his mechanical pencil, grabbing Keith's other hand and placing the pencil in his grasp. "Go on. You have full creative liberty on this. Use this opportunity, dummy"

Keith huffed and held the pencil tentatively in his hand. He slowly began to write down an idea that suddenly popped into his head. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration and his eyes began to burn with a determined fire. Matt chuckled as he watched Keith's hand glide across the paper elegantly. The little scratches of the pencil lead against the paper was all Matt could hear as his eyes zeroed in on Keith. From his eyes to the way he held his pencil, it was unique, in its own way. Reaching out slowly, Matt grabbed a hold of Keith's grey hood and he slowly pulled it off.

Matt was suddenly pulled out of his trance as Keith smacked his hand away harshly. Matt blinked, his hand retracted away from Keith as he stared. Keith scowled softly and pulled his hood back up quickly. Keith concentrated quietly on the evolving script in front of him as he continued to scowl at Matt's previous actions. He heard Matt shift beside him but was too irritated to spare him a curious glance. As Keith continued to frustratingly write, Matt suddenly caught his attention.

"Hey, Keithy!" Keith froze, ceasing his writing and he looked over at Matt with a deep frown. Matt's finger suddenly approached Keith, attacking his forehead and pushing away the angry crease between his eyebrows. He then grabbed a hold of Keith's cheeks and, in shock, Keith dropped the notebook and pencil. Matt began to assault Keith's cheeks and squished then close together before stretching them into an odd looking smile. "Smiling suits you better"

Without knowledge of what to do in this kind of situation, Keith stayed there, cheeks cupped by Matt's hands and eyes glued to each other. Keith eventually found some reminiscences of his voice and managed to croak out a weak "Let go..." and he was released from Matt's grasp. He was about to scowl at the taller boy when matt poked in between his eyes once again.

"Nope! Nuh uh! Not allowed to frown, Keithy!" Keith huffed but didn't frown at the boy. He picked up the notebook and pencil and progressed in his script writing. As Keith began to immerse himself in this story he had going on, the school bell signalled that the class was over and Keith jumped. He looked at Matt and closed up the notebook, handing the boy his stuff back. Matt gratefully grabbed his stuff and gave Keith a friendly pat on the back before walking off.

Keith just sat there, silently staring at the floor ahead of him as he tried to make sense of everything that was going on. He ran a hand through his hair, letting his hood fall limp behind him. After a minute of rehabilitating, he got up and walked back into the classroom to grab his stuff before he headed out for lunch. As he walked in, he saw Mr. Wood on the phone and tried to be as quiet as possible. he walked past the teacher, shoes scuffing against the carpet as he walked to the clutter of tables in a corner of the drama classroom. Oddly, he felt eyes boring into the back of his head and swerved around to see who was staring at him. But he saw no one in the room other than Mr. Wood facing the whiteboard. He seemed to be having a slightly heated argument with someone on the other line and Keith tried his best not to eavesdrop.

Keith assumed that it was the teacher's girlfriend or something along that line and he tried to rush out of the room but Mr. Wood stopped him short. "Ah, Keith, wait a moment" Keith skidded to a halt, his sneakers squeaking against the tile floor as he stopped at the door. He turned and saw Mr. Wood putting his phone aside before shuffling around and picking up a huge guitar case looking thing. "Keith, since you're here, would you mind helping me get my cello case to my car? I would, but I have to carry a box with paperwork in them, so..." he chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Help a teacher out?"

Keith fidgeted quietly and nodded. How could he say no to his favourite teacher? He set down his stuff, stuffing his phone into his hoodie pocket and reaching to grab the cello case. Keith gasped as all of the weight of the cello was handed off to him and he cradled the cello case, practically hugging it now. The top of the cello case pressed against his cheek and he waddled out of the classroom door with it. He heard Mr. Wood chuckle as he saw him lock the classroom door in his peripheral vision. He walked side by side with the blond and they silently walked out of the school. Keith, however, was starting to struggle with carrying the cello case.

"Fuck..." He murmured rather quietly before speaking louder to talk to Mr. Wood. "I didn't realise cello's were so heavy..." Mr. Wood answered with a smile. Keith attempted to act relaxed and raised an eyebrow at the teacher. "Will you show the class a song or two on your cello?" Keith asked rather smoothly despite his racing heart pounding loudly. 

"Oh, yeah totally. I've actually been practising a new song and its actually a modern sounding song! Unlike those old classics, ya know?" He laughed and he took out his car keys with one hand while balancing the box of papers in the other. With the press of a button on his key chain, his car unlocked and the trunk popped open. Keith slowly but finally made it to the trunk and was about to set it down when Mr. Wood stopped him with a singular hand movement. "Wait a moment. My cello is kinda... special. If you don't mind, could you carry it to the passengers seat?"

Keith blinked, caught unawares but he obliged nonetheless. He slowly walked to the side of the car, grunting as he shifted his weight and almost dropped the cello. He raised an eyebrow as a fresh scent of pine wafted out of the case. It smelled exactly like pine. Somehow opening the door with one hand, Keith let the car door swing open. He plunked down the cello case and rested it up against the seat. He made sure it was secure and quickly closed the car door. He looked back at Mr. Wood and saw him looking dazed and deep in thought. He walked up to the teacher slowly and tilted his head. "Mr. Wood...?"

At Keith's voice, Mr. Wood's head jerked and he looked down at Keith. He then suddenly broke out into smiles and he laughed. "Ah, Yes. Thank you, Keith, for helping me. You can go" Keith nodded tentatively and slowly stalked away from the teacher. He walked into the school and took a deep breath.

He just wishes he could get to rehearsal already.


	4. Grudges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonjour tout le monde = hello everybody/everyone
> 
> Comment ça va? = How are you?
> 
> Ça va bien = I'm good/things are going well
> 
> Passé composé = Past Tense/ Past Composed
> 
> Au revoir = Goodbye

Drama class was the only class Lance wasn't loud in. Anyone who has met Lance knew he was outgoing and generally a loud person. However, if someone were to see how Lance was now, they'd sorely misconstrue who he truly who he is. Drama class was always a chaotic class for him. His particular class seemed to be the one with most of the ADD kids and the 'misfit' types. Now, don't get Lance wrong, he definitely has ADD. Any one of his family members could confirm it. But it was even more annoying to be surrounded by teens just like himself. Once, the drama teacher and Lance found one kid named Emmet wrapped in an extension cord still plugged into the wall. It was wrapped around his throat and around his torso and his legs several times. Another time, he was putting a safety pin in his mouth even though there were none to be found. And fairly recently, Lance found him behind the costume closets just chewing on a red thread and entwining it in his teeth. Let's just say, his time spent in the class never felt worth while.

Now, more about the teacher, Mr. Wood. He didn't like the guy at all. His broad shoulders and somehow pearly white smile made Lance feel put off. Not to mention most student's odd fascination with him. It was weird. But Lance couldn't fully hate the guy. His mamá always told him to give people the benefit of the doubt even when you didn't like them. Besides, Lance had baseless reasons to hate that stud of a teacher anyways. He knew what he was feeling was just pettiness since all of the girls he ever tried to hit on proceeded to tell him in some way that they were waiting to find a way to get said teacher to date them. Lance was getting sick of it.

The suddenly rather obnoxious bell rang to signal the end of class. All of the students booked it out the door as if they weren't going to be back tomorrow for the next class. Lance let them all flee before slowly making his own way out, glad it was time for French class. At least he would get to see Hunk, that lovable marshmallow. His shoes making repeated  _tap tap tap_ sounds against the tiled floor, Lance headed up the stairwell of the first basement and up the second set of stairs to the second floor. His mind guided him through the halls easily—since by now he knew the school's layout by heart—and straight to the door that was painted with different things that referenced France and the culture. He stepped in, only to see that half the class had somehow made it there before he did. He weaved through the sea of desks filled with students and slumped down in his seat. His seat was the seat  _beside_ the window seat so he wasn't graced with such a luxury. He was too busy glaring at the infamous window seat to see Hunk had sat himself in his own seat behind Lance. The Cuban jumped as he looked behind him.

"Hunk! Hey, my man. How are ya doing?" He asked with a bright smile. Hunk returned it amiably and took out a stack of cue cards. He let Lance flip through them quizzically before speaking. "They're cue cards for studying for that huge french test." Nodding his head, he read through them more closely and realized he didn't know any of it. He was silent for a moment before looking up at Hunk. "Hey, Hunk—" "I already have a set made for you to study off of" "Bless you Hunk, you are a god" That was enough for Hunk to smile bashfully and take his own cue cards back. The teacher, Mr. Macklin, then walked in with long strides and a smile, he greeted the class with a friendly "Bonjour tout le monde. Comment ça va?" What was given back to him was mumbles that sounded vaguely similar to 'ça va bien' or an elongated version of 'bonjour'. Mr. Macklin turned to the white board and wrote out "Passé composé". After that, Lance completely zoned out. He rested his head in his hand and turned to look out the window. He could only really see the tall apartment building in the distance and the somewhat tall pine trees in the area.

He was enjoying it a lot better than the class nonetheless.

Come to think of it, he wasn't being loud in this class either. Maybe today just wasn't Lance's day. Whatever. As Lance slowly spaced out into his own fantasy world, the classroom door slammed shut, grounding Lance back to reality. All eyes, including Lance's, fled to the cause of the slamming. "So happy for you to join us, Keith." Mr. Macklin said cheerily. The raven haired male gave a curt nod before shuffling his seat which, coincidentally, was the window seat right beside his. Lance's first thought was  _Of course this emo looking guy has the window seat._ His second thoughts were  _Oh, his name is Keith._ As the teacher soon got immersed in the lesson, Lance grabbed his notebook full of lined paper out and scribbled a little  _'Hey Mullet. So you're in this class, huh?'_  and gently tossing it in front of Keith in his line of sight. 

Seeing that he had noticed it, Lance watched as Keith picked up the note quietly and smoothly, reading over it. Keith then proceeded to crumple it up and toss it off his desk in front of him. Lance's eyes followed the small paper with wide eyes as Keith then kicked it away from himself. Lance pouted and ripped out another small piece of paper out of his notebook. On it, he wrote  _'Hey! Don't ignore me!!'_ and wrote a frown face beside it. He then angrily crumpled it and threw it straight at Keith's head. Keith didn't react quickly to the paper and looked over at lance slowly. Lance watched as his gaze moved down to the crumpled piece of paper then his gaze flickered up and glared straight into Lance's blue eyes. Keith stepped on the piece of paper and kicked it away once again before turning his head away. 

 

What a jerk. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's kind of short! I wanted to get a chapter out as soon as possible!


	5. Somehow, Someday, Somewhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Okay wait—" Hunk interjected, looking as lost as usual. "What's a DILF? It's an acronym, right? What does it stand for?"
> 
> "'Daddy I Love Fucking'" "'Dude in love with fucking'"
> 
> Hunk's face morphed into a horrified expression and he faked a gagging sound. "Okay—I'm sorry I asked."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suggest searching up Somewhere - NWSA Choir on youtube before reading this.

Having no more inconveniences was probably the best thing about the rest of Lance's day. He somewhat paid attention to the rest of his French class but he mostly glared at Keith. How dare he mock Lance's note passing! Lance felt like Keith was the type of person to have a stick up his ass 90% of the time.

' _Well, whatever. I'll try to be friends with him but if he really isn't interested, I'll be fine with that. I have plenty of friends that I care about and that care about me right back! Suck it, Keith.'_

———————

As the shrill shriek of the school bell pierced into Lance's skull, he was up and out of the classroom. ' _Thank fucking god! That class is such a snooze.'_

Now it was time to round everyone up before they headed to his house. He and Hunk walked to their lockers together, chatting about what songs they'll totally kick ass in during the DDR session, and how long Pidge could go before passing out.

"Ready to get your twink asses out the door?" Pidge, ever eloquent, sauntered up with her usual swagger. A lazy smirk rested on her lips and it was clear that she had had a good day today. The Latino boy retaliated, cocking his hip and crossing his arms with mock aggravation.

"Ex _cuse_  you, I take offence to that title. I am a  _beefy hunk_  and I shall become a DILF one day."

"Okay wait—" Hunk interjected, looking as lost as usual. "What's a DILF? It's an acronym, right? What does it stand for?"

"'Daddy I Love Fucking'" "'Dude in love with fucking'"

Hunk's face morphed into a horrified expression and he faked a gagging sound. "Okay—I'm sorry I asked."

Meanwhile, Lance and Pidge we're snickering their little asses off as if they had just inhaled a bunch of laughing gas. Pidge was the first to come down, wiping a tear from her eye and pulling out her phone. "I'll look it up..."

"No—no no, it's fine, Pidge. I really don't want to know now." Hunk, the poor innocent soul, was red in the face and looked completely flustered.

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Positive?"

"Pretty positive, Pidge!"

"Alriiiiiiiight..." There was a pause for a moment, Hunk was embarrassedly stuffing some binders in his backpack and Pidge had her annoying version of the 'Lenny face' plastered  _right there._

"Pidge, has anyone told you how much of a troll you are?" "Ohh, on the daily."

Her face spread into a creepy grin and she cackled a little, telling of just how much she cared for the 'insult.'  Lance pointed at her with a mock glare, hissing 'eeevilllll' before putting the rest of his stuff in his bag.

A sigh. "Well, I'm ready."

Hunk heaved his now heavy backpack over his shoulder, putting it on. He nodded a little, his face now just resting in that familiar sweet smile. "Yeah, me too." The two boys locked eyes before looking to their third musketeer, shooting her their own confused and expecting expressions to her. "Pidge?"

"Hold on one sec, Matt is texting me." A texting exchange went between the two siblings while Lance and Hunk stood there in bleak silence. They shrugged at each other, exchanging a 'what can you do?'

"'Met a hot guy today, having a gay crisis right now. Let Lance know he has infected me,'" Pidge reads aloud, briefly glancing to Lance before going back to rapidly typing. She seems to send something as she then focuses her attention on her friends.

Lance let out faux-offended noises as he dramatically snapped his fingers in a Z formation. "Hey, I resent that! He was already gay-ified way before we met."

Pidge quickly looked back down at her phone as it vibrated twice. "'I'll meet you nerds in the foyer.'" She finished before putting her phone away. Lance heaved an exasperated sigh, roughly grabbing his backpack and easily swinging over his shoulder.

"Aight, let's go then. C'mon ' _nerds_.'"

Hunk chuckled fondly at his best friend and put a casual arm around Pidge. She retaliated with ease, smirking at Lance.

"Dork."

' _She dareth utters upon the Lord's name, with her arm around Cinnamon Roll Jesus.'_ Lance squints at her, competitive and falsified contempt spread across his expression. The girl in question raised a challenging eyebrow, not at all daunted. It was always just a tiny bit competitive.

"Shortstack." He uttered, lips curling as someone from his morning class patted him on the back as they walked by. His evil face dissipated for a moment to shoot them a friendly smile with a wave before settling a decidedly evil look on Pidge.

The girl scoffed a little, lifting her chin as if she were above the dispute she started. Hunk, having no patience for the friendly dispute, nudged Lance with his foot. "Matt's waiting for us, you guys." He reminded them. The gleam in their eyes settled on mutually agreeing to continue this later. They nodded before Lance led the march to the foyer, Hunk and Pidge hot on his tail.

They were discussing some mathematical BS that Lance didn't bother tuning in to. He wouldn't understand it anyway, so what was the point? The school system lost him at Pythagorean Theorem and never got him back. So, he marched on ahead alone. It was nice, considering not all sociable people liked being surrounded 24/7. The serene Me, Myself and I moments were...comforting, to say the least. His brain gets so cluttered with thoughts of his own and words of others and to free up that headspace in his own special way...its ni— "...Shit!" A small cuss cuts off Lance's inner monologue, so quiet he had zero chance to recognize it.

He's sent forwards onto his bony knees, a twinge of pain shooting up his legs. He winces, craning his neck at the pain. "Sorry, I'm so sorry! I-I'm in a bit of a rush, but..." A soft but brusque voice from above has Lance turning his head towards it. When he does, a gloved hand is towering in front of his face. He flinches at the sudden closeness. Lance really isn't given much time to react. One second he's on the ground, in pain, then the next he knows, he's  _standing_  and in pain. Hunk and Pidge are standing beside him now and  _what just happened??_

He looks around him, seeing a person with longish black hair running ahead. The brunet squints, vaguely wondering if that's a certain ass-to-stick mullet boy he knows. It couldn't be...could it? He sounded too polite, a stark difference to in-class Keith. "Was that Keith?" He voiced his thoughts to his friends, looking to them before looking back to where the raven-haired boy had run off.

Of course, Lance was giving the other two  _zero_  context whatsoever. Lance vaguely heard Pidge ask "Keith? Who's Keith?" But he ignored her. Whatever. What just happened didn't change his opinion of Lance. He was feeling extra petty today.

"Keith is who Lance is mooning over today." Hunk has never been good at whispering.

Insulted, Lance playfully hit Hunk's thick arm with a weak slap. He stuck out his tongue. "I'm not  _mooning_  over him. He was an asshole so therefore he's on my hit list."

The trio continued their walk to the school foyer, switching their topic of conversation from assholish boys to various video game culture information.

"All I'm saying is that that can't be all the worlds they put into the game! There  _has_ to be more worlds in there other than Olympus and fucking Arendelle. We don't need Arendelle!" Pidge was waving her free hand wildly as she talked, left eyebrow quirked in its decisive manner.

"But I'm actually really excited for the San Fransokyo world. Sora gets to ride Baymax! Plus, it'll be interesting how they change the story to fit Sora, Donald and Goofy."

Lance shrugs at Hunk, a grin pulling at his lips. "I just can't wait to see Sora as a  _furry._ " He snickered again and turned to look at where he was going. He narrowly avoided running into a puny ninth grader and stumbled.

"Nice going, Lance."

"Shut up!"

———————————————

Having caught up with Matt in the school foyer, the four students, after loitering around Wendy's for about an hour, made their way down the busy street towards Lance's house. They walked in the most frustrating formation; taking up pretty much the entire width of the sidewalk. They all energetically talked about different thing, Hunk talked about getting a perfect grade for his cookies in cooking class, Pidge finishing her assignment for computer science, getting to code a video game. Lance enjoyed bitching about the various grievances he's had today and Matt vaguely informed them about the guy he may or may not be crushing on now.

"He's so  _cute!"_  Matt bemoaned, rubbing a hand down his red face. "It's not like I hadn't noticed him before, but  _not like this!"_

Lance knew, just like Pidge and Hunk did, that Matt didn't catch such feelings very often. Over the years, Matt has always been more focused on his studies and improving himself rather than actively engaging with people with the intent to start a relationship. its thanks to Pidge that he's friends with the rest of them. Lance knew and that's why he always wholeheartedly supported Matt and those endeavours.

The Latino smiled a little, glad to see Matt enjoying himself. Must be quite a guy to get Matt acting like this. Inclining his head, Lance looked to him. "Do you know much about him?" To that, Matt shook his head.

"No. He doesn't seem like the type to try and make new friends."

Pidge made a knowing noise. She nudged Matt. "Kind of sounds like someone I know."

Her brother raised an eyebrow at her challengingly. "You mean  _yourself?_  You're not any different than me."

She rolled her eyes. "Have you forgotten that I'm the one who introduced you to these nerds plus Allura and Shiro?"

"You only know Allura because of Lance!" Matt jabbed his thumb towards Lance. "Besides, I'm sure it's plenty embarrassing hanging out with your cousin all the time."

"That's rich coming from someone who hangs out with his sister all the time."

"That's different!" Matt flailed his hands exasperatedly. "Besides, I don't see  _you_ dating anyone right now, Pidge!"

Pidge averted her eyes for a second, fleetingly chewing her lip.

She then scoffed and shoved her hands in her jean pockets. "Hah! No one is worthy of my presence, that's all." She halfheartedly bodychecked her brother before looking at the street sign ahead.

Matt got an unreadable look in his eyes as he then shrugged, deflating. "Fair enough." The eleventh grader then turned his gaze on Lance. Uh oh. "Hey Lance, you've been oddly quiet today. Something on your mind?"

Yeah. He didn't even have the energy to rebuke him, though. Shrugging, Lance kicked some gravel. "I mean, I guess? It's just one of those days, man. Dunno." To that, Hunk slung an arm over his shoulder, making him smile.

A silence fell on the four of them, now just focusing on making it to Lance's house. Pidge was slightly ahead, so she was the first to take the left down the sidewalk-less road.

 _'I haven't walked this road in a while...'_ Lance remarked to himself. He looked to those familiar landmarks he memorized as a kid. ' _The gas station at the corner of the road, the park and alternative school just beside it, the senior's home just across from it, the church...I remember mama making me memorize them as a kid.'_

"So, Hunk! How's Auto going?" "Well..."

Lance tuned out the conversation. It wasn't directed at him anyways. He let himself fall behind the group, walking at a much more leisurely pace. He was mindful of the cars coming to and from the gas station but other than that, he spaced out in his thoughts.

Lance peacefully listened to the sound of cars passing by and...singing? That sure made Lance stop in his tracks.

He thought he was hearing things at first but no, definitely not. He strained his ears and heard what sounded like a choir coming from the church to the right of the gas station. His eyes went to the first entrance he was able to spot but no, it didn't seem like the sound was coming from there. His eyes searched a little more until he spotted the second entrance on this side of the building. The doors were open, which made much more sense as to why he could hear it.

He walked down the road a little more, wanting to see what was going on inside. He stopped right as he could fully inside and saw kids separated into three groups and they were definitely the voices he'd heard. They were really fairly loud and whatever song they were singing sounded good.

 _"There's a place for us..._  
_A time and place for us._  
_Hold my hand and we're halfway there._  
_Hold my hand and I'll take you there_  
_Somehow, Some day, Somewhere!"_

Lance doesn't recognize the song but just listening to this choir of kids sing, especially that last chord where they all break off into harmony, makes goosebumps raise on Lance's arms and legs. They stop singing and they all break apart, a woman with dark brown hair, about jawline length, claps her hands and starts ordering the kids around. Lance can't hear what she's saying, but that deduction doesn't take a super genius.

_'She looks really authoritative...'_

His friends seemed to have finally noticed his lack of presence and stopped walking, a few metres away now.

"Lance! What are you looking at? Come ooon!" Matt hollered over to him. Lance's head snapped towards them. Right. They were doing something.

"Uhhh you guys just go on ahead! I'll catch up!" He waved them off and pulled his phone out of his pocket, pretending to look busy. He watched his friends exchange glances before shrugging and walking on ahead. Once they stopped glancing back at him, Lance turned his attention back to the group inside the building.

They were all sitting down in front of the brown haired woman. She was gesturing wildly as she seemed to read off of a book. She started pointing to different parts of the room and the kids all got up, some standing in the spots she pointed to. Once they all seemed to be in some formation, she stepped back and sat down.

Lance didn't want to feel like he was eavesdropping, but he was totally eavesdropping. He walked towards the building and hung back by a wall where he couldn't be seen but, in return, he couldn't see them inside.  _'Oh well,'_  He thought.  _'Guess I'll just have to settle with listening.'_

He ignored the little voice inside his head chastising him.

"I'm not feeling great today so instead of me teaching you guys the mambo, Keith will!"

_'Keith? It couldn't be...'_

The kids all started talking to each other so loud that Lance couldn't make out what was being said but they all began to shush each other and that's when Lance heard him. Keith's voice.

"Alright! So, at this point in the story..." Lance can't help himself. He walks forward out of his hiding spot to peer in. He leans and he leans and he leans and as he leans closer, he sees him. His hair is tied up and he has a friendly, open expression on his face. He's wearing something completely different from when he was at school and he seemed so...relaxed.

_'What the fuck is Keith doing here?'_


End file.
